1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the field of gripping sleeves. In particular, the present invention is directed to a gripping sleeve, for enhancing a user's grasp of the handles and handholds of various tools and implements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been a number of patents directed to the area of gripping sleeves. U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,885 discloses a slip-on grip with a main thin rubber cylindrical tube and an outer fabric layer dimensioned to fit securely over an existing grip. The outer fabric layer has longitudinal slits along its lower portion of the rubber tube to allow the tube to expand to slide over the existing golf grip during installation. The outer layer is made of cotton or terry cloth or similar material and is integral with the thin rubber tube to provide a non-slip, gripping surface. In a second embodiment, the golf grip has an additional, thickened interior rubber portion which replaces, instead of slipping over, the existing grip. The grip has the combined function of the existing grip and the grip cover providing a grip wide enough to fit in the palm of an adult's hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,199 discloses an apparatus for providing an enhanced grip between a gloved hand and a handle or other object to be gripped. A portion or all of the glove and a portion or all of the handle are provided with selected first and second gripping surfaces, respectively, of the same or different materials, that join together, temporarily or permanently, and provide a stronger hand-to-handle grip that resists slipping. Alternatively, a flexible band, having second and third gripping surfaces on opposite sides, is wrapped around a first object that is to be rotated or otherwise moved relative to a second object, such as a lid and a jar. A gloved hand, having a first gripping surface, grips the flexible band and the first object and forms a strong temporary join between hand, flexible band and first object, allowing the first object to be more easily moved. Various thermoplastic, amorphous polymers, crystalline polymers and rubber-like materials can be used for the gripping surfaces. The invention has application to construction, maintenance, control and extraction work, to sports activities, to repair work around the home and to persons suffering from arthritis and similar diseases that affect an ability to grip an object.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,083 discloses handles to carry luggage that have been made of a variety of materials and in a variety of styles. Some require specially molded, cast, or stamped parts of plastic, rubber or metal. But, such handles tend to be expensive and heavy. Here a handle is constructed from a pair or webbing pieces edge stitched to form an elongated tube into which a specially constructed filler member or core is inserted. This core comprises a central stiffening member of a tempered steel wire rod and a plastic tube. Several layers of foam padding are wound around this member, and the entire assembly is slid into the cavity formed by the edge sewn webbing pieces to form a grip. The lengths of the webbing pieces are such to form integral straps for attaching the grip directly to a luggage case.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,241 discloses a handle for a paint roller frame includes an inner core made of a substantially rigid plastic material and an outer grip made of a softer rubber-like material surrounding the inner core and extending part way around both ends thereof. At the outer end of the inner core is an internally threaded opening surrounded by a planar end wall. The outer grip includes an outer end portion overlying the planar end wall which acts like a locking washer, resisting unscrewing of an extension pole from the threaded opening when the extension pole is screwed down tight and a flange at a base of the extension pole threads come into contact with the outer end portion of the outer grip overlying the planar end wall.
Applicant deems the following three references as being the most relevant. U.S. Pat. No. 3,072,955 to Mitchell discloses a hand grip consisting of an elongated tubular body fabricated of resilient flexible material having a slit along one side for the full length thereof, the interior surface of the tubular body formed with a plurality of spaced apart longitudinal rib members, the hand grip designed to facilitate the carrying of shopping bags, buckets, and other containers, as well as cooking implements and hand tools, like pots, pans and screw drivers.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,444,558 to Elliot discloses a service handle for carrying articles having cord supports. The service handle being tubular and having a longitudinal bias slot for positioning the cord support within the longitudinal bore.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,394,050 to Goza discloses a shopping bag carrier having a longitudinal tubular body with a helically arranged slot extending from end to end through which the cords of a shopping bag may be slipped. The slot in Goza is a fixed slot in that it has a predetermined width and is not subject to closure by the resilient body.
The Elliot, Mitchell and Goza references address similar problems addressed by Applicant, but are structurally dissimilar in the manner in which they accomplish the task.